Greg Chase is unique among Edmonton Oilers prospects. There are physical players who don’t score and there are scorers who don’t agitate. Chase? 6.0, 205, probably plays his pro hockey on RW, he has good hands, creativity and plays a rugged game. He’s surprised since his draft day, and despite his draft number there were a lot of fans before that day:

RED LINE: “A real Red Line favourite who flies under the radar. He’s a fine puck distributor who shows great patience and possesses the touch to constantly find linemates off the cycle. Keeps feet going after making a pass to sustain pressure in offensive zone. Versatile forward has spent time on every line and been effective in every role. Shows up every shift and his play away from the puck is impressive, makes things happen by constantly filling open ice. Refuses to back down in contested areas; first player into the corners. Wide skating stance helps him maintain balance and uses edges well to maximize glide. Hungry player has a great compete level and looks to make a difference every shift. Not as dynamic offensively as other prospects on this list, but plays a well-rounded, consistent game.”

Chase has a chance to show up early and often. In Penticton, the Oilers are going to want a game rooster who plays balls out alongside some of their extreme skill. Opportunity knocks. That rugged player has to have some offensive ability, Chase’s NHLE (82GP, 10-14-24) suggests he is the best combination available. Opportunity knocks.

LAST YEAR’S PRE-SEASON

"I thought it was a prank.” Greg Chase when he first noted he'd be playing with Taylor Hall & Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in #Oilers-Flames game.

Opportunity knocked a year ago after he earned the chance with hard work and determination. He’s willing to give no quarter and likely to initiate trouble. That has value, and if he can do it without costing his team too many penalties, he will have a long career.

WILL HE PLAY IN THE NHL THIS SEASON?

I didn’t include him in the ‘callup’ portion of the recent RE series, mostly because there’s so much uncertainty higher up the at-bats were spent hedging bets. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him get a look, though—especially if he rips it up in camp as he’s done in the past.

Chase could easily get the call ahead of any of these men, it’s a completely random call based on Slepyshev’s skill, Yakimov’s size and skill, Platzer’s impressive two-way reputation and Moroz being one year along from Chase.

WHAT WILL HIS BAKERSFIELD NUMBERS LOOK LIKE?

I think Chase gets a lot of playing time down there, and if we project his junior numbers to the AHL, it works out (per 82GP) to 19-27-46, .561. If we project 65 games, that’s 15-21-36 or thereabouts. Of course, we have to project that downward because the Oilers have signed some AHL veterans and they’ll take at-bats away, so I’m going to guess 65GP, 12-17-29 .446 points-per-game. Let’s see how that compares to recent Oilers picks and their point-per-game performances (at 20) over recent seasons:

Tobias Rieder 64GP, 28-20-48 .750

Teemu Hartikainen 66GP, 17-25-42 .636

Bogdan Yakimov 57GP, 12-16-28 .491

Josh Winquist 46GP, 8-11-19 .413

Phil Cornet 60GP, 7-16-23 .383

Tyler Pitlick 62GP, 7-16-23 .371

Anton Lander 14GP, 1-4-5 .357

Curtis Hamilton 41GP, 5-6-11 .268

Jujhar Khaira 51GP, 4-6-10 .196

Travis Ewanyk 68GP, 7-5-12 .176

Mitch Moroz 66GP, 5-4-9 .136

Kale Kessy 54GP, 2-4-6 .111

Chase is the best ‘gritty’ prospect (in terms of offense) to come down the pipe in many seasons. He might end up being what I’d always hoped Curtis Hamilton would turn into, that throwback Habs winger who could play a two-way game and score enough to play up with the skilled men. My goodness there’s a really good opportunity waiting for Greg Chase.

PROJECTED BAKERSFIELD RE (SO FAR)

I’ve had to alter some of the earlier RE’s for Bakersfield, signings continue and cloud the picture. If I had to pick an opening night roster for the Condors right now, it might look like this:

G: Brossoit (Laurikainen backup)

D1: Reinhart-Davidson

D2: Nurse-Musil

D3: Hunt-Simpson (or Oesterle)

L1: Pakarainen—Draisaitl—Miller

L2: Slepyshev—Yakimov—Ford

L3: R. Hamilton—McRae—Chase or Platzer

L4: Moroz—Khaira—Platzer or Chase

There’s a lot of talent in Bakersfield. Among the players not listed on this projected opening night roster? Joey Laleggia, Alexis Loiseau, Marco Roy, Josh Winquist, Kale Kessy. It’s going to be fun in Bakersfield this winter!

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That’s a heck of a lineup, lots of young blood (to the point that even the few AHL vets remaining seem to be standing in the way).

Minor point of contention would be Eetu, I imagine he will start in the ECHL with Brossoit/Nillson in tandem. I love how, all of a sudden, we have 3 young goalies with upside. 12 months ago we had 1 (and there was less certainty with LB then compared to now).

Considering the sheer number of quality prospects lined up to play for Bakersfield (get your kicks!) it is hard to believe the Oil still feel the need to sign AHL vets above and beyond who they have. Maybe I’m swayed by Supernova’s posts unduly, but it seems like the Condors would be a good team merely with the guys in the system. And I know there is always the ECHL team (who is that btw?) but it just seems to be to make more sense to have your guys develop in the AHL.

Ca$h-McMoney!:
That’s a heck of a lineup, lots of young blood (to the point that even the few AHL vets remaining seem to be standing in the way).

Minor point of contention would be Eetu, I imagine he will start in the ECHL with Brossoit/Nillson in tandem.I love how, all of a sudden, we have 3 young goalies with upside.12 months ago we had 1 (and there was less certainty with LB then compared to now).

Bar_Qu:
Considering the sheer number of quality prospects lined up to play for Bakersfield (get your kicks!) it is hard to believe the Oil still feel the need to sign AHL vets above and beyond who they have. Maybe I’m swayed by Supernova’s posts unduly, but it seems like the Condors would be a good team merely with the guys in the system. And I know there is always the ECHL team (who is that btw?) but it just seems to be to make more sense to have your guys develop in the AHL.

My 2 cents.

*edit* answered my own question. Norfolk Admirals. Cool name

Injuries.

By mid season the Oilers will have called up two or three players, and the Condors will have two or three injured players of their own. By late last season, the Barons were bringing in retreads just to fill out the lineup.

Plus you need a Crash Davis or three to keep the young guys in line and show them how to be pros.

Joey Legs will develop a lot faster if he has Brad Hunt to learn from.

I think the goal is going to be to have both Nurse and Reinhart in the NHL next year, which means they are likely next years’ bottom pairing.

If that is the plan, then I think you start them together in Bakersfield so when they make the NHL next year they have the advantage of knowing how each other plays and how they work together.

Thus, I would be going with Nurse – Reinhart as the top pair, with some PK and PP time to round out their minutes. They should be playing 20-23 minutes a night if the plan is for them to be in the NHL next season.

I would have Davidson anchoring the second pair, with the rest of Hunt, Musil, Osterle, Simpson, and Gernat rotating through the three open spots.

Joey and Betker would start in Norlfolk so they could get decent minutes.

It’s a damn shame the Oilers didn’t buy out Ference and open a spot for Davidson with the big club. Would have been better for the Oilers and would have opened more development minutes on the farm.

I think if both Reinhart and Nurse are pencilled in for next year, they won’t be on the same pairing. I think both get some time in the bigs, with Reinhart getting a bit more. I think the plan is to make it so next year you have the Euro pairing (Sekera KBomb) , Reinhart and Fayne getting the toughs, and Nurse getting the Schultz zone starts with him. That defense sounds quite respectable actually, that’s with the experience they get this season. That as our defense this year I think is a buffet for the big west forwards.

Could be.But then they have arguably the best young goalie in the AHL in Matt Murray

Last Year:
40GP, 1.58GAA, .941SV%

That’s miles better than LB, and I’m an LB fan.

If I’m the penguins I’m taking an established NHL goalie to play backup, or him.A guy like Nilsson isn’t really a better bet than him.

Joni Ortio will need to clear waivers.Khudobin might lose out to Gibson in Anaheim.I could see them going that route.

True. Maybe I’m just trying to get used to actual depth!!! Nilsson’s KHL numbers remain intriguing, how much would EDM save on the cap by sending Scrivens down and keeping Nilsson? About 300k I’d expect.

I don’t think Lander is the Swedish version of Tikkanen – but boy they could use a little more of that in the lineup. How giddy would we be if Chase went all Brandon Saad and ripped the cover off the ball from out of nowhere

Lowetide: True. Maybe I’m just trying to get used to actual depth!!! Nilsson’s KHL numbers remain intriguing, how much would EDM save on the cap by sending Scrivens down and keeping Nilsson? About 300k I’d expect.

However I remember someone stating that the backup off this team was .938 save percentage. This maybe puts his .941 into context (league/team/quality of shots faced).

One thing I noticed when I was in Florida this winter and saw the Panthers and Tampa games was Landers stealth agitation skills. A lot of small chops with the stick, lower back crosschecks, mouthing players off in scrums. Another thing he did was talking to the refs between periods. And not in the usual whiny frustrated way you see from players, but calmly and with a lot if smiles between them, clearly having a great relationship with them. Lander’s a ninja agitator!

Hey LT, would you ever debate the notion of dellow not only using stats, mathematics and probability that he was the genius to pull land Connor Mcdavid. With th exception of leaving variables of the head coach fiasco out.

Lowetide: True. Maybe I’m just trying to get used to actual depth!!! Nilsson’s KHL numbers remain intriguing, how much would EDM save on the cap by sending Scrivens down and keeping Nilsson? About 300k I’d expect.

Scrivens makes $2.3 M
Nilsson makes $1M

If they send down Nilsson their total salary cost is $2.375 M as $75K of Nilsson’s salary counts against the cap

If they send down Scrivens their total salary cost is $1.375 M for Scrivens ($2.3 M – 925K) and $1 M for Nilsson for a total of $2.375 M

If Reinhart is better than N.N., why not have him start in the minors and Reinhart with the Oil? If Reinhart doesn’t make bonuses, that would even be cap savings since his base is less than the “cap burying maximum”.

I think if both Reinhart and Nurse are pencilled in for next year, they won’t be on the same pairing. I think both get some time in the bigs, with Reinhart getting a bit more. I think the plan is to make it so next year you have the Euro pairing (Sekera KBomb) , Reinhart and Fayne getting the toughs, and Nurse getting the Schultz zone starts with him. That defense sounds quite respectable actually, that’s with the experience they get this season. That as our defense this year I think is a buffet for the big west forwards.

I would rather them play together on third pairing minutes and competition than ask one of them to play top four minutes.

I get the desire to play each with a veteran, but I think it asks too much of one of them. I am also pretty confident that Nurse can handle the third pairing minutes, even paired with Reinhart. If Reinhart struggles, you can always shared the load with your number 7 guy.

Plus, Reinhart’s future is on the right side, I think. Might as well break him in there.

I’m not saying the AHL team can’t have AHL vets, in fact I think every team would have to have vets on it. Just saying like Draisaitl helping win the WHL and going to the Mem Cup finals, those experiences are invaluable.

IIRC, the Monarchs team with Muzzin et al was also quite successful, wasn’t it?

Ca$h-McMoney!: If I recall correctly Saad was ranked in the top 10 early in his draft year but fell quite a bit.My understanding is he had mono, but I could be wrong.

I remember him being ranked high as well, and dropping like a rock. My bad memory is also telling me that his in season injury was unknown until after the draft. I thought I heard shoulder, but mono could be right too!?

Either way, he has always had 1st round skill, and I’m not sure the same can be said about Chase. Love the attitude that both play with though, that should play in Chase’s favour for years.

During the WHL playoffs Chase was kicked out of a game. His response was to through his mouth guard at the center ice ref as he was being taken off.

Keep this guy as far away from McDavid as possible. He’ll be toxic in the dressing room.

I think it’s a little much to accuse a 20 year old kid of being the equivalent of one of the NHL’s most notorious jerks based on one incident. Sean Avery had a long history of selfish behaviour. Unless you’re privy to a lot more information than you’re letting on, I think you’re being dramatically unfair to the player.

PaperDesigner: I think it’s a little much to accuse a 20 year old kid of being the equivalent of one of the NHL’s most notorious jerks based on one incident. Sean Avery had a long history of selfish behaviour. Unless you’re privy to a lot more information than you’re letting on, I think you’re being dramatically unfair to the player.

This. I’m sure Greg Chase has some growing up to do, but anyone who was every 20 knows that’s absolutely universal.

Colieo87:
Hey LT,would you ever debate the notion of dellow not only using stats,mathematics and probability that he was the genius to pull land Connor Mcdavid.With th exception of leaving variables of the head coach fiasco out.